One Disney Park Earns The Number 1 Spot As Busiest Theme Park in the World

If you’ve been to Disney World recently you may have noticed something big.

We’re talking about the HUGE crowds we saw this summer in Disney World, which many have attributed to “revenge travel,” or an increase in traveling after many people spent two years of the COVID-19 pandemic delaying plans. Now one publication has released a list of the busiest theme parks in the world and you might be surprised where Disney Parks land on the list!

TheStreet compiled attendance records from 2019, 2020, and 2021 to put together the top 25 busiest theme parks in the world and we’re showing you the top 10! The rankings come from the 2019 attendance figures but you can see all three past year figures — and don’t forget to note that increase in attendance from 2020!

10. Shanghai Disneyland

Shanghai Disneyland opened in 2016 and it has seen some high attendance levels since then!

2021 attendance: 8.5 million (+54%)
2020 attendance: 5.5 million
2019 attendance: 11.2 million

9. Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios is typically one of the busiest parks in Disney World but on this ranking, it came out as number 9! (Note that 134% increase in attendance from 2020 to 2021!)

Tower of Terror in Disney’s Hollywood Studios

2021 attendance: 8.6 million (+134%)
2020 attendance: 3.7 million
2019 attendance: 11.5 million

8. Chimelong Ocean Kingdom

Chimelong Ocean Kingdom is located in Hengqin, China, and it comes to number 8 on the list.

2021 attendance: 7.5 million (+55%)
2020 attendance: 4.8 million
2019 attendance: 11.7 million

7. EPCOT

Here comes EPCOT at ranking number 7! It had a whopping 92% increase in attendance from 2020 to 2021.

2021 attendance: 7.8 million (+92%)
2020 attendance: 4 million
2019 attendance: 12.4 million

6. Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Surprisingly, Animal Kingdom is ranked number 6! Home to some of Disney World’s most popular rides in Pandora, it makes sense that Animal Kingdom has seen some heavy crowds.

2021 attendance: 7.2 million (+73%)
2020 attendance: 4.2 million
2019 attendance: 13.9 million

5. Universal Studios Japan

Universal Studios Japan is located in Osaka, Japan, and it comes out as ranking number 5.

2021 attendance: 5.5 million (+12%)
2020 attendance: 4.9 million
2019 attendance: 14.5 million

4. Tokyo DisneySea

Tokyo DisneySea is one of the most popular theme parks in Japan! It’s ranked as number 4 on this list.

2021 attendance: 5.8 million (+71%)
2020 attendance: 3.4 million
2019 attendance: 4.7 million

3. Toyko Disneyland

And Tokyo DisneySea’s sister theme park, Tokyo Disneyland, comes out as number 3.

2021 attendance: 6.3 million (+51%)
2020 attendance: 4.2 million
2019 attendance: 17.9 million

2. Disneyland Park

Now we’re headed to California, where Disneyland Park has been ranked as the second busiest theme park in the world! Note that Disney California Adventure did rank in the top 25 but not the top 10.

2021 attendance: 8.6 million (+133% from 2020-2021)
2020 attendance: 3.7 million
2019 attendance: 18.7 million

1. Magic Kingdom

And finally, the number one busiest theme park in the world is…Magic Kingdom! Home to so many of our favorite attractions, Magic Kingdom is definitely a busy park…and you might want to consider getting Genie+ there.

2021 attendance: 12.7 million (+82% from 2020-2021)
2020 attendance: 6.9 million
2019 attendance: 21 million

If you’re curious about the rest of the list, Universal Studios Florida took the ranking of number 11 along with Islands of Adventure at 12, Disney California Adventure was ranked at 13, Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris at 14, Universal Studios Hollywood at 15, Hong Kong Disneyland at 21, and Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris.

In terms of water parks, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon ranked as the number one most busy water park in North America, followed closely by Disney’s Blizzard Beach.